ACP Practice Advisor Privacy Policy

Your privacy is a primary concern to the American College of Physicians (ACP). We recognize the importance of protecting the privacy of personal information. You have a right to know the types of information collected through the ACP Practice Advisor® and how and why it is collected and used. You also have a right to choose whether or not you wish to provide this personal information or have it collected. We respect and will protect these rights.

This Privacy Policy describes our privacy practices regarding the collection, use, disclosure, and retention of personal information obtained from the users of this website. Our designated Privacy Officer is responsible for our compliance with this Privacy Policy, and may be contacted as described below.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to clearly understand how your personal information will be treated as you make use of this site. By using the ACP Practice Advisor website and by submitting your personal information, you consent to the collection, use, disclosure, and retention of your personal information for the purposes described herein.

If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy or any revised statement, please exit the ACP Practice Advisor website immediately. If you agree to its terms, we will obtain your consent before collecting, using, disclosing, or retaining your personal information for any purposes that are not listed in the Terms of Use or this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy addresses personal information about individuals and does not apply to information collected, used, or disclosed with respect to corporate or commercial entities.

Safeguarding Personal Information

ACP protects personal information in its custody or control by making reasonable security arrangements to prevent unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modifications, disposal, or similar risks. ACP will take reasonable steps to ensure that our suppliers or agents who assist us in providing services implement a comparable level of personal information protection.

Note that confidentiality and security are not assured when information is transmitted through email or other electronic communication. ACP will not be responsible for any loss or damage arising from a breach of security or confidentiality when you transmit information to us by email or other electronic communication or when we transmit information by such means at your request.

How and Why Information is Collected by ACP Practice Advisor

ACP collects personal information for purposes authorized or required by law and for the purposes set out below.

ACP collects certain personal information from you when you register with the ACP Practice Advisor website. This information is used to create your personal account and to facilitate your access to appropriate areas within the website.

The following information is recorded in a log file when you view pages and graphics on ACP Practice Advisor:

The time and date of your request

The Internet address of your computer

The browser and operating system you are using

The page which you are viewing

The previous page that you visited (the referrer)

Certain information is required and certain information is optional. Required information is clearly noted during the User Registration process. By providing any information, you consent to ACP’s collection, use, and disclosure of that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.

When you register as a User of the ACP Practice Advisor, your email address is required so that ACP can confirm that you have successfully registered. You also have the option to receive additional communications such as electronic newsletters, educational program updates, special offers for products or services, and participation in surveys. You will not receive these communications unless you elect to do so.

When you register for the services provided by the ACP Practice Advisor, you are asked to provide identifying information such as your name, contact information, job title, professional society membership (if applicable), and other professional information (e.g., specialty). Information that is required for registration is labeled as such, as is information that is optional and may be given at your discretion. This information is collected to maintain accurate and current data. You can change your mind at any time about receiving email updates by using the unsubscribe instructions provided with each communication. This information is not shared with others.

Apart from the personal information collected when you register with the website, ACP Practice Advisor also collects anonymous non-personal information through the use of “cookies.” Cookies are small text files a website creates when you visit a site. Many websites use cookies to provide useful features to their visitors. Cookies do not personally identify users; however, they can be used to identify a user’s computer. This information is not shared with others.

Use of Information Collected Through the ACP Practice Advisor Website

To support specific ACP Practice Advisor website features. The ACP Practice Advisor is designed to be an online resource that users will visit on a regular basis. The ACP Practice Advisor will create an account for each User that allows Users to save information between visits and to share information that they have collected with other authorized Users. Each account will have personal information associated with it that will be used in conjunction with specific features to minimize re-entry of data with each visit.

For the analysis of the ACP Practice Advisor User base. ACP Practice Advisor will apply analytical tools to gain insight into various characteristics of the Users, such as geographic location, specialty, size of practice, community scores, Practice Biopsies, etc. Other uses may include applying analytical tools to learn how visitors with specific characteristics (e.g. specialty or subspecialty, geographic location, practice size) visit a particular portion of the website. This information will be used for internal purposes including refinement of ACP Practice Advisor website features, communication programs, and improvements to website navigation. De-identified may be used in reports, articles, and promotional material.

To develop reports to enable us to monitor usage and security. Usage statistics are distributed internally at ACP and may be shared with advertisers, sponsors, business partners, and grantors for the purpose of showing them how many hits their ads, products/programs, or sponsored section(s)/resource(s) have received. We do not release any information that would allow identification of individual users to outside companies.

To review usage of the ACP Practice Advisor website by individual Users if a User's account is associated with:

Attempts to violate the security of our computer networks,

Activity that degrades the performance of the website, or

Activity that may be related to copyright violation.

When personal information that has been collected is to be used for a purpose not previously identified, ACP will identify the new purpose and obtain your consent unless the use is authorized or required by law.

You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions, provided that you give us reasonable notice of withdrawal of consent. When we receive notice of your withdrawal of consent we will inform you of the likely consequences, which may include our inability to provide services for which that information is necessary.

We will not collect personal information indiscriminately and will limit collection of personal information to that which is reasonable and necessary to provide services through the ACP Practice Advisor website and which is reasonable and necessary for the purposes consented to by you.

Third-Party Sites

Other websites accessed through links on the ACP Practice Advisor website may collect personally identifiable information about you. Once you leave the ACP Practice Advisor website and enter another website (whether through an advertisement, co-brand, service, or content link) be aware that any information you disclose on or through those sites is not subject to this Privacy Policy. ACP does not endorse and is not responsible for the privacy practices of any third-party websites to which we may link. You acknowledge that such other website locations are not under the control of ACP and agree that ACP shall not be responsible for any information or other links found at any linked website. ACP provides such links only as a convenience to you and has not tested any software or verified any information disclosed on or through such sites. You should always review the privacy policy for those websites to understand how they treat your personal information.

Security and E-Commerce

Our secure server enables you to transmit a credit card number to us with confidence. Our secure server certificate is issued by Trustwave. We do not store your credit card number after your transaction has been processed.

Providing Access

You have a right to access your personal information that we hold. Upon receiving a written request from you and authenticating your identity, we will provide you with your personal information under our control, information about the ways in which that information is being used, and a description of any individuals and organizations to whom that information has been disclosed.

We may charge a reasonable fee for responding to an access request and will provide an estimate of any such fee upon receiving an access request. We may require a deposit for all or part of the fee.

We will make the information available within 30 days or provide written notice where additional time is required to fulfill the request. In some situations, we may not be able to provide access to certain personal information. If we refuse an access request, we will notify you in writing, document the reasons for refusal, and outline further steps that are available to you.

How to Contact ACP Practice Advisor

We will, upon request, provide information regarding our complaint procedures.
ACP Practice Advisor takes its responsibility to protect your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information very seriously. There may be questions that you may have about this Privacy Policy, or you may have privacy concerns relating to ACP Practice Advisor's use of your personal information. Any inquiries, complaints, or questions regarding this Privacy Policy should be directed in writing to our Privacy Officer.

Changes to Privacy Policy

Although our commitment to privacy will not change, in order to accommodate changes based on legal precedents and new legislation, or if the products and/or services that we offer changes, we reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. The date of the most recent update of this Privacy Policy is listed below. If we update this Privacy Policy, the Effective Date will be changed to indicate when the last update was made.

Disclosure of Personal Information Contained in User Records

Disclosure required by law or emergency circumstances –

Personal information is information that can be used to identify or contact you. ACP may release personal information to third parties:

To comply with valid legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena, or court order, or

In special cases, such as a physical threat to you or others.

In the event that we are legally compelled to disclose your personal information to a third party, we will notify you unless doing so would violate the law or court order.

Disclosure in the context of mergers and acquisitions –

ACP may disclose personal information to an organization with which it merges, or which acquires ACP or substantially all of its assets. Any personal information provided to such organization will be provided subject to that organization taking reasonable steps to keep personal information private.

Disclosure to ACP operations and maintenance contractors –

ACP operations and maintenance contractors sometimes have limited access to your personal information in the course of providing products or services to ACP. Access to your personal information by these contractors is limited to the information reasonably necessary in order for the contractor to perform its limited function for ACP. We also contractually require that our operations and maintenance contractors:

Protect the privacy of your personal information, and

Not use or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than providing us with products and services.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Notice and Take Down Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright Infringement by ACP on this site.

Please note that these notifications and counter-notifications are legal notices provided outside of the American College of Physicians environment. American College of Physicians may provide copies of such notices to the participants in the dispute or third parties, at our discretion and as required by law – the privacy policy for American College of Physicians does not protect information provided in these notices.

If you (“Copyright Owner”) believe copyrighted work is available on this website in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify the following designated agent of the American College of Physicians, Inc. (“Operator”) in writing. While you are welcome to phone with queries, we cannot process requests made telephonically.

Notification

Your written notification (the “Notification”) to the above-referenced designated agent must include substantially all of the following:

Identification of the copyrighted work that is the subject of the claimed infringement or, if multiple copyrighted works are involved, a representative list of such works.

Identification of the allegedly infringing material, together with information reasonably sufficient to permit Operator to locate such material (for example, the URL of web page on which the material appears with optional screenshot).

Information reasonably sufficient to permit Operator to contact you, such as your full name, address, telephone number, and email address.

A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the copyrighted work identified in the Notification is being used in a manner that is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

A statement by you, signed under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in the Notification is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyrighted work that is allegedly being infringed.

A physical or electronic signature of the owner of the copyrighted work or a person authorized to act on its behalf.

Upon receipt of a Notification containing substantially all of the foregoing, Operator may take the following steps:

Remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing material.

Forward the Notification to the alleged infringer (the “Impacted Party”).

Take reasonable steps to promptly notify the Impacted Party that Operator has removed or disabled access to the allegedly infringing material.

Counter Notification

The Impacted Party may submit a counter notification in writing to the above-referenced designated agent of Operator. The written counter notification (the “Counter Notification”) must include substantially all of the following:

Identification of the allegedly infringing material that was removed or disabled by Operator and the location where the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled.

A statement under penalty of perjury that the Impacted Party has a good faith belief that the allegedly infringing material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.

The Impacted Party's name, address and telephone number and a statement that the Impacted Party consents to the jurisdiction of the United States federal district court for the judicial district in which the address provided by the Impacted Party is located and will accept service of process from you. If the Impacted Party is located outside the United States, the Impacted Party must include a statement that it consents to the jurisdiction of any United States federal district court in which Operator may be found.

A physical or electronic signature of the Impacted Party.

Upon receipt of a Counter Notification containing substantially all of the foregoing, Operator will take the following steps:

Send you a copy of the Counter Notification.

Inform you that it will replace the allegedly infringing material or cease disabling access to it within ten (10) business days.

Replace the removed allegedly infringing material or cease disabling access to it not less than ten (10) nor more than fourteen (14) business days following receipt of the Counter Notification, provided you have not supplied the designated agent with evidence that you have filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the Impacted Party from engaging in the infringing activity that was the subject of the Notification.

Operator’s policy is to terminate the online privileges of individuals who repeatedly violate the copyrights of others.